//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Someone Who Cares 
// by Frizzy 
//------------------------------//

"Come on in!" Cheerilee says, pulling open a door. You walk into what you assume is her house. "Sit down," she says, pointing at a couch. "I'll only be a second." She exits the room, leaving you standing there awkwardly. Might as well sit down. You hear the sound of a faucet being turned, and some running water. A moment later Cheerilee returns with a wet towel clenched between her teeth.

Walking over to your position on the couch, she begins cleaning your face of all the blood and dirt, being careful not to touch your nose or eye. All of your fears about this place fade as she does this, proving to you that she isn't going to hurt you.

"Why are you doing this?" You ask.

"Hmm?" She responds, giving you a puzzled look.

"Helping me." You say. "You could have just left me there. Ignored me. Gone home, and done whatever it is that ponies do. But you chose to help me. Why?"

Putting down the towel on a near by coffee table, she looks you in the eyes. "Because, I am a teacher. And what is a teacher's job?" She says.

"Easy," you say. "You teach kids how to read, write, do math and all that stuff."

"Sorry, sweetie," she says. "That is only a partial answer. It's not even the most important part of it. The most important part of the job is to be a care giver. Sometimes, a parent doesn't understand a child as well as a teacher does. Yes, I could have left you there, let you be somepony else's problem, but then I would have been ignoring my duty as a teacher. Do you understand now?" She asks, giving you a warm smile. You quietly nod your head.

"Humans tend to pop into Equestria from time to time." She continues. "Normally they aren't hurt as badly as you are. Sure, they are a little confused, or even scared, but they are almost never hurt. You are the first on I've seen with any injuries. Care to elaborate?"

Your mind races. Should you tell her? You barely know her. Hell, you haven't even told her your name yet. Does she really need to know about how dark humans can be? Should you give her more reasons to worry about you? Make her feel as if it is now her responsibility to take care of you?

She smiles at you, reassuringly. She actually cares about you. Why else would she help you? She deserves to know. You decide to tell her. The whole story. About how shitty your life is, about Wheeler, and about the fight you got in. When you are done telling her, she pulls you into a tight hug. "It's okay," She whispers into your ear. "You don't have to return to that life if you don't want to. You can stay here, with me, and have an enjoyable life."

You begin to sob onto her shoulder, matting her fur. There is nothing you would like more. "Thak you." You whisper softly. You hug her tightly, as if letting go of her would cause her to fade from existance. For once in your miserable life, someone cares about you. For the first time in your life you are happy.

After what seems like hours, you two pull away from each other. It finally dawns on you just how tired you are. Letting out a yawn, you begin to feel your eyes close, Cheerilee's image slowly blurring. She gently lays you out on the couch, making sure to remove your shoes first. She leaves for a moment, then returns with a blanket, which she drapes over you. "Good night." She whispers, before turning out the lights, and heading down the hall. You are asleep before you even hear her door shut.

...

You wake up the next morning, not even bothering to open your eyes at first. 'That was an interesting dream.' You think. Oh, how you wish it was true. Even if she was a pony, it felt great having someone treat you with kindness. But, of course, all good things must come to an end. Slowly opening your eyes, you expect to be greeted by your bedroom.

That's weird. You are in the house from your dream. That can't be right. Ponies don't talk. Maybe someone actually did find you, and took you into their home, and you just hallucinated that they were a pony. That seemed like the most logical thing.

You hear the sound of hooves on hardwood floor. Hooves. Not feet, or even shoes. Hooves. Turning your head, you see Cheerilee walk in, a plate of scrambled eggs and toast held between her teeth. "Good morning." She says, cheerfully, putting the plate down on the coffee table in front of you. "I made you breakfast." She says, motioning towards the plate. Only then do you remember how meager your last "meal" was (if you could even call it that). You begin to eat the food she had so kindly prepared for you.  "How'd you sleep last night?" She asks. You give her a simple "Fine", you continue eating.

After finishing your meal, and thanking her for it. she takes your dishes to the kitchen and begins washing them. "As soon as you're ready, we need to head over to the library to get some legal documents for you. Shouldn't take too long." She calls from the kitchen. Legal documents? Makes sense. You are technically an immigrant.

Getting up from the couch and doing your routine stretches, you head into the kitchen to see what Cheerilee's doing. She is just now finishing up the dishes. "Are you ready?" She asks. Nodding your head, the two of you begin walking to the door.

As you walk out into the town, you notice that you aren't the only human. You vaguely remember Cheerilee mentioning that there were other humans here. They seemed to fit right in. They were far outnumbered by ponies, but there were still quite a few of them. They just seemed to be doing what they would normally do back on earth. Some were working jobs, some were chatting with other ponies, some were just walking around, enjoying their morning.

Eventually you reach a large tree with a door on the front. There is a sign out front with a picture of a large book on it. This must be the library. You and Cheerilee walk up to the front door and enter. You see the familiar sight of hundreds of bookshelves. Yep, this is definitely a library. Approaching a purple unicorn, Cheerilee begins talking to her. "Good morning, Twilight. I'm going to need some  human documents."

Turning around, Twilight, looks over at you. Taking a good long look at you, she nods, and begins going through a filing cabinent. Finally returning with a couple of sheets of paper, she levitates them over to you, as well as a pen. "Just fill these out and give them to me when you're done. Feel free to ask any questions if you don't understand something." She says, before turning away, and resuming whatever it is that she was doing.

It was a pretty basic legal document. It was about as straightforward as possible. It was pretty much just questions asking for your name, birthday, criminal history, and other questions that were used to varify your identity. Nothing special about it. Finishing it, you hand it over to her. She quickly looka over it, before heading to another room. She returns about a minute later. "I just sent it." She says. "In about one week you will have all the legal documentation to make you an Equestrian citizen." She pauses. "That is... if you passed. But don't worry, After examining it, I can say that you should have no problems. Good luck!" With that, you and Cheerilee leave the library.